A History Worth Telling

Poundbury is, by now, one of the most talked-about new communities in Britain. After years of being a bold experiment — and occasionally a controversial one — it has become a reference point for how new places should be planned and built. Planners study it, governments cite it, visitors travel here from all over the world.

But the story of how Poundbury has actually become Poundbury has never properly been told.

What was it like to move in when the roads weren't adopted and the builder was still next door? Who gathered the first neighbours together, and what was important to them? How did a community — not just a different kind of development — take root? And how did those early discussions, priorities and values change over time? These are the questions that the formal record of masterplans and planning applications cannot answer. They need the people who were here.

The Community Association of Poundbury is compiling a history of this community from its earliest days to the completion of construction — a record not of bricks and timelines, but of people, decisions, arguments, events and life. We are working through thirty years of archive material, and we are looking for your help.

If you have specific memories of arriving in early Poundbury, or twenty or ten or even five years ago, we would love to hear them. If you served on a committee, attended a meeting, remember a particular campaign or moment, please get in touch. And if you have any documents, photographs, newsletters or letters tucked away that relate to Poundbury's history, we would very much like to see them. Everything will be treated with care and returned.

This new initiative is our collective history. When construction is finally complete, Poundbury will continue to evolve — but the story of how it became deserves to be preserved.

If you would like to contribute or work on this initiative, please contact: calltoaction@lovepoundbury.org